Spain

The metropolitan cathedral housing the traditional tomb of Saint James the Great, the final destination of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage routes. The Romanesque cathedral was begun in 1075 and consecrated in 1211, with Master Mateo placing the lintels of the Portico of Glory on April 1, 1188, the Baroque Obradoiro facade begun in 1738, and the famous swinging censer known as the Botafumeiro.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Santiago de Compostela Old Town, 1985)Praza do Obradoiro s/n, 15704 Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Galicia

Photo: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

The Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family in Barcelona's Eixample district, begun on March 19, 1882 and shaped over 43 years by architect Antoni Gaudí, featuring three biblical facades, eighteen spires culminating in the 172.5-meter Tower of Jesus Christ, and an interior forest of branching stone columns.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (2005)Carrer de Mallorca 401, Quận Eixample, Barcelona, Vùng Catalunya, Tây Ban Nha

Photo: Canaan, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

A monumental 23,400-square-meter sanctuary on the Guadalquivir River in Córdoba, begun in 785 CE by Umayyad Emir Abd al-Rahman I with a forest of 856 stone columns supporting red-and-white double-tiered arches and a Byzantine gold-mosaic Mihrab (965 CE), consecrated as a Catholic cathedral by King Ferdinand III in 1236 and crowned with a central Renaissance choir and nave begun in 1523.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (1984)Calle Cardenal Herrero 1, Khu phố cổ Córdoba, Bờ Bắc sông Guadalquivir, Vùng Andalucía, Tây Ban Nha

Photo: Toni Castillo Quero, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

A Benedictine abbey perched at an altitude of 720 meters amid the serrated rock pinnacles of Montserrat mountain near Barcelona, founded in 1025 by Abbot Oliba to enshrine the twelfth-century Romanesque wooden statue of the Virgin of Montserrat (La Moreneta, Patroness of Catalonia), where Saint Ignatius of Loyola kept his vigil of arms in 1522 and where the Escolania boys' choir has sung since the thirteenth century.

Minor Basilica (1881) & Spanish National Heritage SiteMontaña de Montserrat, Monistrol de Montserrat, Tỉnh Barcelona, Vùng Catalunya, Tây Ban Nha

Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

The largest Gothic cathedral in the world in Seville (covering 11,520 square meters), constructed between 1401 and 1506 over the former Almohad grand mosque while preserving the Courtyard of the Orange Trees and the 104.1-meter Giralda bell tower with its 35 interior horse ramps, renowned for the world's largest gilded wooden altarpiece and the tomb of navigator Christopher Columbus.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (1987)Avenida de la Constitución s/n, Khu phố cổ Sevilla, Vùng Andalucía, Tây Ban Nha

Photo: Ingo Mehling, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

A comprehensive masterpiece of Spanish Gothic architecture on the Camino de Santiago in Burgos, founded on July 20, 1221 by King Saint Ferdinand III and Bishop Mauricio, celebrated for Juan de Colonia's 84-meter openwork stone spires, Simón de Colonia's Chapel of the Constable, Diego de Siloé's Golden Staircase, and the tomb of El Cid Campeador.

Independent UNESCO World Heritage Site (1984, extended 2014, Ref. 316) and Metropolitan Cathedral BasilicaPlaza de Santa María, s/n, 09003 Burgos, Castile and León, Spain

Photo: Carlos Delgado, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

The Primate Cathedral of Spain rising above the Tagus River in Toledo, founded on August 14, 1226 by King Saint Ferdinand III and Archbishop Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada over a sixth-century Visigothic basilica, celebrated as Dives Toletana for its five-aisled Gothic hall, Narciso Tomé's Baroque El Transparente, Enrique de Arfe's 183-kilogram gold-and-silver Monstrance, El Greco's El Expolio, and daily Mozarabic Rite Mass.

Primate Cathedral of Spain and UNESCO World Heritage Site (Historic City of Toledo, 1986, Ref. 379)Calle Cardenal Cisneros, 1, 45002 Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Photo: Daderot, Phạm vi công cộng, Wikimedia Commons

The monumental granite monastery, basilica, royal library, palace, and royal pantheon at the foot of Mount Abantos near Madrid, erected between 1563 and 1584 by King Philip II under architects Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera to commemorate the victory of Saint-Quentin, giving birth to the austere Herrerian Renaissance style and housing the tombs of twenty-six Spanish monarchs.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Monastery and Site of the Escurial, Madrid, 1984, Ref. 318) and Royal BasilicaAvenida Juan de Borbón y Battemberg, s/n, 28200 San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid, Spain

Photo: Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

The fortified Royal Monastery in the Las Villuercas mountains of Cáceres, Extremadura, endowed in 1340 by King Alfonso XI and entrusted for centuries to the Hieronymites and Franciscans, enshrining the twelfth-century Romanesque Black Madonna of Guadalupe, inextricably linked to Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage, the Mudéjar Cloister, and Francisco de Zurbarán's intact Baroque Sacristy.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (1993, Ref. 665) and National Shrine of the Queen of HispanidadPlaza de Santa María de Guadalupe, s/n, 10140 Guadalupe, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain

Photo: Jl FilpoC, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

One of the largest and most complete Cistercian monasteries in Europe, founded on January 18, 1150 by Count Ramon Berenguer IV at the foot of the Prades Mountains in Tarragona, Catalonia, enclosed by triple fortified walls and celebrated for the elevated alabaster royal tombs of the Kings of the Crown of Aragon, Damià Forment's 1529 alabaster High Altarpiece, and an active community of Cistercian monks.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (1991, Ref. 518) and Royal Pantheon of the Crown of AragonPlaça Corona d'Aragó, 11, 43448 Vimbodí i Poblet, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain

Photo: Malopez 21, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Celebrated in Latin as Pulchra Leonina (The Beautiful Leonese) and the House of Light, León Cathedral is Spain's purest masterpiece of thirteenth-century French-style Rayonnant High Gothic architecture on the Camino de Santiago, built over Roman legionary baths and King Ordoño II's tenth-century palace, and renowned across Europe for nearly 1,800 square meters of original medieval and Renaissance stained glass.

First National Monument of Spain (1844) and UNESCO World Heritage Site (Routes of Santiago de Compostela, 1993, Ref. 669)Plaza de Regla, s/n, 24003 León, Castile and León, Spain

Photo: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez (Lmbuga), CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Perched at 1,131 meters above sea level in Spain's highest provincial capital, the fortified Cathedral of the Saviour in Ávila is recognized as the first Gothic cathedral in Spain (redesigned from 1170 by French master Giraud Fruchel), whose battlemented granite apse (El Cimorro) forms the largest defensive bastion of Ávila's 2,516-meter, 87-tower medieval city walls, alongside the Baroque Convent built over the birthplace of Mystic and Doctor of the Church Saint Teresa of Ávila.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Old Town of Ávila with its Extra-Muros Churches, 1985, Ref. 348bis) and National MonumentPlaza de la Catedral, 8 and Plaza de la Santa, 2, 05001 Ávila, Castile and León, Spain

Photo: Zarateman, CC0, Wikimedia Commons

Đại vương cung thánh đường Baroque bên dòng sông Ebro với mười một mái vòm lợp ngói men rực rỡ và bốn tháp chuông cao 98 mét, bảo lưu cột đá jasper thiêng từ năm 40 SCN, bàn thờ đá của Damià Forment và bích họa vòm trần của Francisco de Goya.

Nhà thờ Đồng chính tòa Tổng giáo phận Zaragoza, Đền thánh Đức Mẹ đầu tiên của Kitô giáo và Bảo vật Quốc gia Tây Ban NhaPlaza del Pilar, s/n, 50003 Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain

Photo: Willtron, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Considered the oldest standing synagogue building in Europe, erected in 1180 CE (and rebuilt in the 13th century by royal treasurer Yosef ben Shoshan) in the Jewish Quarter of Toledo by Mudéjar Islamic master builders with five naves, twenty-eight horseshoe arches, and thirty-two white octagonal piers.

National Monument of Spain (1880) and UNESCO World Heritage Site (Historic City of Toledo, 1986, Ref. 379)Calle de los Reyes Católicos, 4, Jewish Quarter (Judería), 45002 Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Photo: Zmorgan, Phạm vi công cộng, Wikimedia Commons

A twin monastic complex in the Cárdenas River valley of La Rioja comprising the sixth-century Visigothic and Mozarabic cave monastery of Suso on the mountain slope and the eleventh- to sixteenth-century royal monastery of Yuso in the valley below, celebrated as the birthplace of the first written texts in the Spanish and Basque languages.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (San Millán Yuso and Suso Monasteries, 1997, Ref. 805) and National Monument of SpainCalle del Río, s/n, 26326 San Millán de la Cogolla, La Rioja, Spain

Photo: Jose Luis Filpo Cabana, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

The seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid standing directly opposite the Royal Palace across the Plaza de la Armería, begun on April 4, 1883 under King Alfonso XII and consecrated on June 15, 1993 by Pope John Paul II, blending a Neoclassical granite-and-limestone exterior with a Neo-Gothic nave and a 400-column Neo-Romanesque crypt.

Metropolitan Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Madrid and National Historic-Artistic Monument of SpainCalle de Bailén, 10, Centro District, 28013 Madrid, Spain

Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The Catalan Gothic metropolitan cathedral of the Archdiocese of Barcelona rising on ancient Mons Taber in the Gothic Quarter, begun on May 1, 1298 over a fourth-century Paleochristian basilica to enshrine the alabaster sarcophagus of the thirteen-year-old martyr Saint Eulalia beside a palm-shaded cloister guarded by thirteen white geese.

Metropolitan Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Barcelona, Minor Basilica (1867), and National Monument of Spain (1929)Pla de la Seu, s/n, Gothic Quarter (Barri Gòtic), Ciutat Vella, 08002 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Photo: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The mother sanctuary of the Society of Jesus in the Urola River valley of Azpeitia in the Basque Country, where Roman Baroque master Carlo Fontana designed a monumental 65-meter-domed basilica and 150-meter monastic wings enclosing the medieval fortified tower-house in which Saint Ignatius of Loyola was born in 1491 and experienced his spiritual conversion in 1521.

Minor Basilica (1921), Cultural Heritage Monument of the Basque Country, and Starting Point of the Ignatian Way (Camino Ignaciano)Loiola Auzoa, s/n, Urola Valley, 20730 Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Spain

Photo: GFreihalter, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

A natural conglomerate rock grotto overlooking the Cardener River in Manresa, Catalonia, with a view toward Montserrat, where Saint Ignatius of Loyola spent eleven months in prayer and penance from March 1522 to February 1523, received his mystical enlightenment beside the Cardener, and drafted the foundational text of the Spiritual Exercises.

Cultural Heritage of National Interest of Catalonia (BCIN), International Center of Ignatian Spirituality, and Final Destination of the Camino IgnacianoCamí de la Cova, 17, Sant Bartomeu Hill by the Cardener River, 08241 Manresa, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Photo: Enric, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Vương cung thánh đường đền tạ ngự trên đỉnh núi Tibidabo cao 512 mét nhìn xuống toàn cảnh Barcelona, gắn với lời tiên tri của Thánh Gioan Bosco năm 1886 và do kiến trúc sư Enric Sagnier thiết kế.

Tiểu Vương cung thánh đường do Giáo hoàng Gioan XXIII sắc phong (29 tháng 10 năm 1961) và Di sản Kiến trúc Bảo tồn BarcelonaCumbre del Tibidabo, s/n, Mount Tibidabo Summit (512 m), Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, 08035 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Photo: Felix König, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons